Ambitious UK construction companies making inroads into overseas markets have been singled out by The Sunday Times in its listing of UK businesses with the fastest-growing international sales.
The International Track 200 ranks mid-market private companies with growing global sales measured over their latest two years of available accounts. To qualify, a business must have a minimum sales threshold of £25m a year.
Ranking at number 1 on list was green retrofit company Mark Group, with impressive international sales growth of 513% per annum, rising from £0.7m in 2010 to £27.2m in 2012.
The group’s international expansion began in 2009, when it set up a subsidiary in Sydney, Australia, then entered the US market in 2010, the two territories accounting for the majority of sales over the past two years.
The Leicester-based company’s 2,500 staff install loft and cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation for older buildings, air source heat pumps, wind turbines, solar hot water systems and photovoltaic panels.
Ranked 18th with 133% sales growth per annum, reaching to £9m in 2012, was shop fit-out specialist Cardinal, which has secured work from customers including Primark, Boots and Marks & Spencer as they open new stores across Europe, the Far East and Australasia.
Ranked 24th was Swansea-based civils contractor Dawnus Construction, whose sales rose 115% per annum from £18m in 2010 to £84m in 2012, largely on the back of projects in Africa.
These included a £40m contract to deliver materials for road and rail construction in Senegal, and a £100m contract to support iron ore mining in Sierra Leone.
The list also features architect Broadway Malyan (92), copper tubes supplier Lawton Tubes (137), project management consultancy Turner & Townsend (182), Barnsley-based sewerage pipe manufacturer Naylor Industries (189) and pump manufacturer Selwood (185).
Turner & Townsend employs 3300 staff across 82 offices in 33 countries, achieving internationals sales of £130.8m in 2012. Since December, it has opened in America, China, Norway, Russia, Oman and Uganda.
Broadway Malyan has 16 offices around the world, including Sao Paulo, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai and Shanghai, and generated £33.3m in 2012.
The International Track 200 is an expansion of the International Track 100 league table, published by The Sunday Times for the past two years.
A typical International Track 200 company has sales ranging from £25m to £200m; international sales ranging from £5m to £100m; and average two-year international sales growth ranging from 25% to 500% a year.
